Robert BLACKWELL Jr.

BLACKWELL, Jr., Robert "Bob" Robert (Bob) Blackwell Jr., a former top CIA analyst who provided advice to presidents and policymakers on the Soviet Union and Europe, died Nov. 3 at age 76 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. A native of Atlanta, the son of Robert Blackwell Sr. and Carolyn Jackson, Bob graduated from the University of Georgia. While teaching a graduate course at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Ph.D., he met a student, Carol Burns. He gave her a "C" in the course, and she likes to joke she retaliated by marrying him. They enjoyed 51 years of happy marriage that produced two children, Jennifer and Robert, and five grandchildren. While an assistant professor of political science at Emory University, Bob was approached in 1975 by the CIA to serve as an analyst. He moved his family to Great Falls, Va. and worked at the agency for 30 years. He briefed presidents, members of Congress, cabinet officials, and diplomats on Russian activities, providing critical insight before, during and after the fall of the Soviet Union. Bob was also an avid skier, traveler and sang tenor in the church choir. Bob retired in 2005 and was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's a year later. He faced this diagnosis with his characteristic courage and spirit, enrolling in clinical trials to find a cure for the disease that claimed his mother, aunt and grandmother. He was featured in several articles on Alzheimer's in USA Today. Bob was a man of singular intelligence, integrity and warmth who will be dearly missed. Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Sat., Nov. 17 at Andrew Chapel UMC in Vienna, Va. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Andrew Chapel Memory Caf? (www.andrewchapelumc.org) and Friends Club (www.friendsclubbethesda.org).